1. Technical Field
This patent application relates generally to processing by a digital computer and, more particularly, to generating a user interface for an application program.
2. Background Information
A user interacts with an application program (or, simply, “application”) via a user interface (UI). A typical UI contains visual elements, such as buttons, check boxes, and edit controls. These visual elements communicate with each other by raising, and reacting to, user-initiated events. Each application may be responsible for updating its own UI in response to such events.
Different applications, even those produced by the same manufacturer, can have a different “look and feel”, e.g., different buttons, navigational tools, controls, layout, and the like. As a result of these differences, and the way in which UIs are updated, related applications may not look related, at least with respect to their UIs. This can cause confusion among users, particularly those who are not computer savvy.